I was working on my computer at the kitchen table yesterday and a saw a small shadow appear on the outside of the window. Just a few weeks ago I had seen a butterfly on that window, so I grabbed my camera and went to the sunroom which has a view of the kitchen window. It was a butterfly sitting on the windowglass. I was able to open the window in the sunroom to have an unobstructed view of the butterfly and took the following pictures of a beautiful Polygonia interrogationis, the Question Mark butterfly. I rotated the images so the butterfly seems to be oriented horizontally, when it was actually going down the window, head first. I took all of the photos showing the beautiful reflection off the windowglass. The window blinds provide the diagonal stripes in the reflection, giving the photos a geometric rakishness. ;-)
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| Here, you can see the white question mark from which the butterfly gets its name on the underside of the hindwing. |
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| The orange color of the hind wing indicates that this is a winter form of the question mark that will stay here all winter and then breed in the spring. The summer form has much darker hindwings. |
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| There is a trail of lick marks on the glass visible between the bottom edge of the rear wing and its reflection. |
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| You can see the violet tail tips and outer margin of forewing. |
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| The underside of the wings can be seen in the reflection. |
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| Look at how the tip of the proboscis is flattened against the windowglass. |
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| Upon reflection, the question is clear. |
